Authority

I just want to be clear right off the bat - this book is very boring.When I came into this book I was anticipating something as complex and challenging as [b:Annihilation 17934530 Annihilation Jeff VanderMeer https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1403941587l/17934530.SX50.jpg 24946895] was. What I did not expect was something so deeply committed to the concept of “Kafka-esque” that there would be very little that happened outside of the bickering of colleagues floating along in a crumbling institution. There is little in the way of thrills or horror, zero interesting characters, and nothing seems to really be going anywhere.I'm giving this two stars because it took be a good damn while to notice that nothing was happening and nothing really was going to happen, and that's a feat in itself. Jeff VanderMeer is very clever and actually a very funny writer, and for a while you're riding the tongue-in-cheek quality that the writing has. When you slow down and really read it - which is what I had to force myself to do in order to not chuck the book out a window - the writing is genuinely beautiful and smart. It felt largely for naught though. If you have the patience for it, then its possible to enjoy this book if you look at it line by line. As a whole though, for me, it felt like a whole lot of nothing.